Method and system for peak scheduling in a wireless network

ABSTRACT

A method of providing peak scheduling in a wireless network is provided. The method includes determining a priority for each of a plurality of users in the network based on a throughput window of a finite length and scheduling the users based on the priority.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications and,more specifically, to a method and system for peak scheduling in awireless network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In many wireless networks, multi-user diversity gain and fairness areachieved through the use of proportional fairness scheduling (PFS). Inproviding this type of scheduling, the packet scheduler generallyschedules the user with the highest priority as determined based on aratio of the instantaneous capacity for the user versus the averagethroughput for the user as compared to the same ratio for the otherusers. However, using conventional PFS, the packet scheduler typicallyschedules a user substantially at the ascending side of the channelfading curve for the user and rarely at the descending side. Thus, thistype of scheduling results in serving the user in suboptimal conditionsduring nearly half of the best opportunities for the user and may resultin low throughput. Therefore, there is a need in the art for improvedscheduling in wireless networks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method for peak scheduling in a wireless network is provided.According to an advantageous embodiment of the present disclosure, themethod includes determining a priority for each of a plurality of usersin the network based on a throughput window of a finite length andscheduling the users based on the priority.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a method ofproviding peak scheduling in a wireless network is provided thatincludes defining a finite length for a throughput window. A schedulingratio is determined for each of a plurality of users in the networkbased on the throughput window. The users are prioritized based on thescheduling ratios. The users are scheduled based on the prioritizationof the users. A determination is made regarding whether a change inconditions for the network has surpassed a predetermined threshold, andwhen the change in conditions for the network has surpassed thepredetermined threshold, the length of the throughput window ismodified.

According to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, a basestation capable of providing peak scheduling in a wireless network isprovided that includes a packet scheduler. The packet scheduler isoperable to provide double-sided scheduling for each of a plurality ofusers in the network by scheduling each of the users both at asubstantial portion of an ascending slope of a channel fading curve forthe user and at a substantial portion of a descending slope of thechannel fading curve for the user.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION below, itmay be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words andphrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and“comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion withoutlimitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the term “each”means every one of at least a subset of the identified items; thephrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well asderivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within,interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with,couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave,juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a propertyof, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system orpart thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may beimplemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of atleast two of the same. It should be noted that the functionalityassociated with any particular controller may be centralized ordistributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain wordsand phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those ofordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not mostinstances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses ofsuch defined words and phrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and itsadvantages, reference is now made to the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencenumerals represent like parts:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless network that is capable ofproviding peak scheduling according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary base station that is capable ofscheduling transmissions according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for providing peakscheduling by the base station of FIG. 2 according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure; and

FIGS. 4A and 4B are graphs illustrating proportional fairness schedulingand peak scheduling, respectively, for a user in the wireless network ofFIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 through 4, discussed below, and the various embodiments used todescribe the principles of the present disclosure in this patentdocument are by way of illustration only and should not be construed inany way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the artwill understand that the principles of the present disclosure may beimplemented in any suitably arranged wireless network.

FIG. 1 illustrates exemplary wireless network 100, in which peakscheduling may be provided according to the principles of the presentdisclosure. Wireless network 100 comprises a plurality of cells (or cellsites) 121-123, each containing one of the base stations, BS 101, BS102, or BS 103. Base stations 101-103 communicate with a plurality ofmobile stations (MS) 111-114 over code division multiple access (CDMA)channels according to, for example, the IS-2000 standard (i.e.,CDMA2000). In an advantageous embodiment of the present disclosure,mobile stations 111-114 are capable of receiving data traffic and/orvoice traffic on two or more CDMA channels simultaneously. Mobilestations 111-114 may be any suitable wireless devices (e.g.,conventional cell phones, PCS handsets, personal digital assistant (PDA)handsets, portable computers, telemetry devices) that are capable ofcommunicating with base stations 101-103 via wireless links.

The present disclosure is not limited to mobile devices. The presentdisclosure also encompasses other types of wireless access terminals,including fixed wireless terminals. For the sake of simplicity, onlymobile stations are shown and discussed hereafter. However, it should beunderstood that the use of the term “mobile station” in the claims andin the description below is intended to encompass both truly mobiledevices (e.g., cell phones, wireless laptops) and stationary wirelessterminals (e.g., a machine monitor with wireless capability).

Dotted lines show the approximate boundaries of cells (or cell sites)121-123 in which base stations 101-103 are located. It is noted that theterms “cells” and “cell sites” may be used interchangeably in commonpractice. For simplicity, the term “cell” will be used hereafter. Thecells are shown approximately circular for the purposes of illustrationand explanation only. It should be clearly understood that the cells mayhave other irregular shapes, depending on the cell configurationselected and variations in the radio environment associated with naturaland man-made obstructions.

As is well known in the art, each of cells 121-123 is comprised of aplurality of sectors, where a directional antenna coupled to the basestation illuminates each sector. The embodiment of FIG. 1 illustratesthe base station in the center of the cell. Alternate embodiments mayposition the directional antennas in corners of the sectors. The systemof the present disclosure is not limited to any particular cellconfiguration.

In one embodiment of the present disclosure, each of BS 101, BS 102 andBS 103 comprises a base station controller (BSC) and one or more basetransceiver subsystem(s) (BTS). Base station controllers and basetransceiver subsystems are well known to those skilled in the art. Abase station controller is a device that manages wireless communicationsresources, including the base transceiver subsystems, for specifiedcells within a wireless communications network. A base transceiversubsystem comprises the RF transceivers, antennas, and other electricalequipment located in each cell. This equipment may include airconditioning units, heating units, electrical supplies, telephone lineinterfaces and RF transmitters and RF receivers. For the purpose ofsimplicity and clarity in explaining the operation of the presentdisclosure, the base transceiver subsystems in each of cells 121, 122and 123 and the base station controller associated with each basetransceiver subsystem are collectively represented by BS 101, BS 102 andBS 103, respectively.

BS 101, BS 102 and BS 103 transfer voice and data signals between eachother and the public switched telephone network (PSTN) (not shown) viacommunication line 131 and mobile switching center (MSC) 140. BS 101, BS102 and BS 103 also transfer data signals, such as packet data, with theInternet (not shown) via communication line 131 and packet data servernode (PDSN) 150. Packet control function (PCF) unit 190 controls theflow of data packets between base stations 101-103 and PDSN 150. PCFunit 190 may be implemented as part of PDSN 150, as part of MSC 140, oras a stand-alone device that communicates with PDSN 150, as shown inFIG. 1. Line 131 also provides the connection path for control signalstransmitted between MSC 140 and BS 101, BS 102 and BS 103 that establishconnections for voice and data circuits between MSC 140 and BS 101, BS102 and BS 103.

Wideband-CDMA and CDMA2000 generally have multiple code channels, andeach BS 101-103 transmits to each mobile station 111-114 in its coveragearea using a dedicated code channel together with traffic power controlfor coping with channel fading. This results in co-channel interferenceeven among mobile stations 111-114 within a same cell 121-123. Thosesystems have inferior system capacity as compared to systems using oneaggregated channel together with rate control and opportunisticscheduling. The opportunistic scheduling scheme takes advantage of thenature of channel fading, rather than trying to correct the channelfading at the cost of RF resources. At each time, a BS 101-103 transmitsto one mobile station 111-114 that happens to have favorable channelquality at that specific time. This is possible because rich fadingenvironments generally have mobile stations 111-114 that are in goodchannel quality at any particular time instant.

Proportional fairness scheduling (PFS) is typically the defaultscheduling algorithm for many systems, such as 1×EV-DO, WCDMA Release 5and 6, WiMAX, and the like. However, while PFS attempts to serve mobilestations 111-114 at the peaks of their channel quality, PFS actuallyschedules each mobile station 111-114 mostly at the ascending slope ofits channel fading curve and interrupts service for the mobile station111-114 upon reaching the peak of the curve, as illustrated in FIG. 4Aand described in more detail below.

On the other hand, peak scheduling provided in accordance with theteachings of the present disclosure allows each BS 101-103 to schedulethe mobile stations 111-114 at nearly equal amounts on both theascending and descending slopes of most of the channel fading curves onwhich the mobile stations 111-114 are scheduled, as illustrated in FIG.4B. As described in more detail below in connection with FIGS. 2-4, peakscheduling, is possible when the BS 101-103 uses a finite window forcalculating throughput values, as opposed to using an infinite windowsuch as that used in PFS. Peak scheduling may be provided in many typesof wireless networks 100, such as EV-DO/DV, HSDPA, WiMAX, WiBro, 3GEvolution, B3G, 4G, and the like.

Communication line 131 may be any suitable connection means, including aT1 line, a T3 line, a fiber optic link, a network packet data backboneconnection, or any other type of data connection. Alternatively,communication line 131 may be replaced by a wireless backhaul system,such as microwave transceivers. Communication line 131 links eachvocoder in the BSC with switch elements in MSC 140. The connections oncommunication line 131 may transmit analog voice signals or digitalvoice signals in pulse code modulated (PCM) format, Internet Protocol(IP) format, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) format, or the like.

MSC 140 is a switching device that provides services and coordinationbetween the mobile stations in a wireless network and external networks,such as the PSTN or Internet. MSC 140 is well known to those skilled inthe art. In some embodiments, communication line 131 may be severaldifferent data links where each data link couples one of BS 101, BS 102,or BS 103 to MSC 140.

In exemplary wireless network 100, MS 111 is located in cell 121 and isin communication with BS 101. MS 112 is also located in cell 121 and isin communication with BS 101. MS 113 is located in cell 122 and is incommunication with BS 102. MS 114 is located in cell 123 and is incommunication with BS 103. MS 112 is also located close to the edge ofcell 123 and is moving in the direction of cell site 123, as indicatedby the direction arrow proximate MS 112. At some point, as MS 112 movesinto cell site 123 and out of cell site 121, a hand-off will occur.

FIG. 2 illustrates exemplary base station 101 in greater detailaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. Basestation 101 comprises base station controller (BSC) 210 and basetransceiver station (BTS) 220. Base station controllers and basetransceiver stations were described previously in connection withFIG. 1. BSC 210 manages the resources in cell site 121, including BTS220. BTS 220 comprises BTS controller 225, channel controller 235 (whichcontains representative channel element 240), transceiver interface (IF)245, RF transceiver 250, antenna array 255, and packet scheduler 260.

BTS controller 225 comprises processing circuitry and memory capable ofexecuting an operating program that controls the overall operation ofBTS 220 and communicates with BSC 210. Under normal conditions, BTScontroller 225 directs the operation of channel controller 235, whichcontains a number of channel elements, including channel element 240,that perform bi-directional communications in the forward channel andthe reverse channel. A “forward” channel refers to outbound signals fromthe base station to the mobile station and a “reverse” channel refers toinbound signals from the mobile station to the base station. TransceiverIF 245 transfers the bi-directional channel signals between channelcontroller 235 and RF transceiver 250.

Antenna array 255 transmits forward channel signals received from RFtransceiver 250 to mobile stations in the coverage area of BS 101.Antenna array 255 also sends to RF transceiver 250 reverse channelsignals received from mobile stations in the coverage area of BS 101. Ina preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, antenna array 255 ismulti-sector antenna, such as a three-sector antenna in which eachantenna sector is responsible for transmitting and receiving in a 120degree arc of coverage area. Additionally, RF transceiver 250 maycontain an antenna selection unit to select among different antennas inantenna array 255 during both transmit and receive operations.

Packet scheduler 260 is coupled to controller 225 and comprises a finiteimpulse response (FIR) filter 265 and an optional filter controller 270.Packet scheduler 260 is operable to schedule uplink and downlinkcommunications for each mobile station 111-114 communicating with basestation 101 based on a scheduling ratio that results in peak schedulinginstead of proportional fairness scheduling. Although illustrated anddescribed as two separate components, it will be understood that FIRfilter 265 and filter controller 270 may be implemented together in asingle component without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure.

FIR filter 265 is operable to prioritize users of mobile stations111-114 based on the scheduling ratio. As described in more detailbelow, the scheduling ratio is based on a throughput window of finitelength. As a result, packet scheduler 260 is able to schedule each userat the peak, i.e., both the ascending slope and the descending slope, ofthe channel fading curve for the user, instead of mostly at theascending slope. Filter controller 270 is coupled to FIR filter 265 andis operable to control the operation of FIR filter 265″by modifying thelength of the throughput window used by FIR filter 265.

Proportional fairness scheduling (PFS) typically schedules users basedon the following ratio:

${\hat{k} = {\arg \; {\max\limits_{i}\frac{{DRC}_{i}(t)}{T_{i}\left( {t - {\Delta \; T}} \right)}}}},{where}$${T_{i}(t)} = {{\left( {1 - \frac{1}{\tau}} \right){T_{i}\left( {t - {\Delta \; T}} \right)}} + {\frac{1}{\tau}{\delta_{i\hat{k}}(t)}{{{DRC}_{i}(t)}.}}}$

DRC_(i)(t) is the instantaneous supportable data rate, T_(i)(t) is theexponentially moving average of the served data rates of User i, theconstant τ is the window size of the moving average operation that isdetermined based on the maximum delay (i.e., τΔT) that can be toleratedby a corresponding application, ΔT is the time duration of each timeslot (which is the minimum scheduling unit), the delta functionδ_(i{circumflex over (k)})(t) is one when i={circumflex over (k)} andzero otherwise, and {circumflex over (k)} is an identifier for theselected User (the User with the largest ratio of the possible data rateversus the moving average of its past data rates).

PFS is based on the assumptions that DRC_(i)(t) and T_(i)(t−ΔT)represent User i′s current channel quality and channel quality history,respectively. In this case, the larger the ratio is, the more likelyUser i is close to a peak of its channel quality. Meanwhile, the delayof a user decreases its averaged data rates, thereby increasing itsratio. This in turn provides the user a higher probability of beingserved in the following time slots. Thus, PFS achieves fair performancesimilar to a round robin scheme, i.e., PFS results in serving all usersalmost the same number of time slots. In addition, the opportunisticscheduling feature also allows PFS to increase system throughput by 50to 100 percent over that of a round robin scheme. However, as describedabove, PFS has the disadvantage of scheduling each user mostly at theascending slope of its channel fading curve and interrupting service forthe user upon reaching the peak of the curve.

Therefore, in accordance with the present disclosure, peak scheduling,instead of PFS, may be employed by packet scheduler 260 such that usersmay be scheduled based on the following scheduling ratio:

${\hat{k} = {\arg \; {\max\limits_{i}\frac{{DRC}_{i}(t)}{R_{i}\left( {t - {\Delta \; T}} \right)}}}},{where}$R_(i)(t) = R_(i)(t − Δ T) + δ_(ik̂)(t)DRC_(i)(t)Δ T.

R_(i)(t) is User i′s total throughput for a finite throughput window. Asused herein, a “throughput window” is a finite length of time duringwhich a plurality of throughputs are measured, each of which is weightedsubstantially equally in the scheduling ratio. For a particularembodiment, each of the measured throughputs is weighted equally.

Thus, instead of comparing a user's instantaneous channel state (i.e.,DRC_(i)(t)) against its short-term channel history as in PFS, peakscheduling compares the user's instantaneous channel state against itslong-term channel history. Although the total throughput is used in thisembodiment to represent a user's long-term channel history, it will beunderstood that other suitable parameters may be used instead of totalthroughput, such as average past throughput or the like.

As a result, peak scheduling is able to correct the single-sidedbehavior of PFS because the long-term channel history does not changedramatically before and after the peak. In addition, the time slots inthe vicinity of the peak have relatively high scheduling ratios asdefined for peak scheduling, while the PFS ratio decreases dramaticallyright after a channel peaks. Furthermore, peak scheduling achieveshigher system throughput than PFS because peak scheduling schedules auser at the global peaks while PFS schedules a user in many local, smallpeaks. Peak scheduling also provides fairness similar to a round robinscheme, as does PFS, because a user is picked up through the comparisonof the scheduling ratios and a delayed user has a higher probability ofbeing scheduled in the following time slots. Fairness such aspacket-delay distribution is not sacrificed, either, and peak schedulingresults in a higher aggregated system throughput than PFS because of thecorrection of the single-sided behavior.

Both PFS and peak scheduling deteriorate to the greedy scheduler if eachuser has the same statistics of channel fading, in which case the userwith the highest channel quality is scheduled each time. In this case,each user still gets equal opportunities because of the identical fadingstatistics. However, PFS becomes the greedy scheduler (or themaximum-throughput scheduler) if the averaging period (i.e., τ) isinfinite. Thus, when users have different channel fading statistics,only users with the highest channel quality are scheduled without anyfairness consideration. Peak scheduling, on the other hand, isindependent of the averaging period and, thus, is able to maintainfairness in this situation.

Thus, FIR filter 265 is operable to calculate a long-term channelhistory using a finite impulse response filter such as that describedabove in connection with the scheduling ratio or other finite impulseresponse filter that provides a long-term channel history based on afinite throughput window. For a particular embodiment, FIR filter 265 isoperable to weight equally each measured throughput within the finitethroughput window, instead of weighting each measured throughputdifferently with an exponential decay as used in PFS. However, it willbe understood that FIR filter 265 may weight some or all of the measuredthroughputs within the throughput window slightly differently withoutdeparting from the scope of the present disclosure.

Filter controller 270 is operable to modify the length of the throughputwindow in order to adjust the balance of responsiveness and fairness forpacket scheduler 260. Thus, filter controller 270 may lengthen thethroughput window, causing more weight to be given to the denominator ofthe scheduling ratio, which results in packet scheduler 260 becomingless responsive and more fair. However, if filter controller 270shortens the throughput window, more weight is given to the numerator ofthe scheduling ratio, which results in packet scheduler 260 becomingmore responsive and less fair.

Filter controller 270 may determine the length of the throughput windowusing any suitable criteria. For example, the speed of the mobilestations 111-114 may be considered when determining how to balanceresponsiveness versus fairness. In addition, it will be understood thatfilter controller 270 may be omitted in some embodiments in which thebalance of responsiveness and fairness to be used is predetermined andunchangeable. For these embodiments, the length of the throughput windowis not modified based on changing conditions in network 100.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method 300 for providing peakscheduling by packet scheduler 260 of base station 101 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. Although the method 300 isdescribed with respect to base station 101, it will be understood thatthe method 300 may be performed by any suitable base station in network100, such as base station 102 or 103.

Initially, filter controller 270 and/or an operator of base station 101defines a finite length for a throughput window for use in peakscheduling by packet scheduler 260 (process step 305). It will beunderstood that the length of the throughput window may comprise anysuitable finite length of time.

FIR filter 265 then determines a scheduling ratio for each user based onthe throughput window (process step 310). For example, as describedabove in connection with FIG. 2, FIR filter 265 may determine thescheduling ratio for each user based on the following equations:

${\hat{k} = {\arg \; {\max\limits_{i}\frac{{DRC}_{i}(t)}{R_{i}\left( {t - {\Delta \; T}} \right)}}}},{where}$R_(i)(t) = R_(i)(t − Δ T) + δ_(ik̂)(t)DRC_(i)(t)Δ T.

Based on the scheduling ratios, FIR filter 265 prioritizes the users(process step 315), and packet scheduler 260 schedules the users basedon the prioritization (process step 320). Thus, for the above example,packet scheduler 260 may schedule the user with the maximum schedulingratio as determined by FIR filter 265 using the above scheduling ratio.

For some embodiments in which filter controller 270 is operable tomodify the length of the throughput window, filter controller 270determines whether there has been a change in network conditions forresponsiveness and/or fairness such that the balance should be adjusted(process step 325). For example, filter controller 270 may determinewhether or not particular network conditions have surpassed apredetermined threshold, indicating that the balance should be adjusted.If filter controller 270 determines that there has been no such changein network conditions. (process step 325), FIR filter 265 continues todetermine scheduling ratios for the users based on the previousthroughput window (process step 310) and the method continues as before.

However, if filter controller 270 determines that there has been such achange in network conditions (process step 325), filter controller 270modifies the length of the throughput window in order to adjust thebalance of responsiveness and fairness in scheduling performed by packetscheduler 260 (process step 330). At this point, FIR filter 265 beginsto determine scheduling ratios for the users based on the modifiedthroughput window (process step 310) and the method continues as before.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are graphs illustrating simulations of proportionalfairness scheduling (PFS) 400 and peak scheduling 450, respectively, fora user in wireless network 100 according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 4A, PFS 400 exhibits single-sidedscheduling behavior, scheduling a user substantially at the ascendingslopes 405 of the channel fading curve and rarely at the descendingslopes 410. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4B, peak scheduling 450exhibits double-sided scheduling behavior, scheduling a user at both theascending slopes 455 of the channel fading curve and the descendingslopes 460.

The simulation illustrated for both PFS 400 and peak scheduling 450 wasconducted using the spatial channel model that has been widely used forevaluating 3GPP/3GPP2 proposals. The simulation includes one centralcell 121-123 surrounded by six neighbor cells 121-123. Ten users aredropped randomly in the central cell 121-123, where each userexperiences different channel fading with various channel statistics(e.g., mean channel quality). The curve represents the channel fading atthe duration of 36650×TS for one particular user. The stars mark thetime slots when the channel is allocated for the user.

For PFS 400, at the beginning of each ascending slope 405, the PFS ratiois high due to the ever-increasing current data rate and the small valueof the moving average. As the user begins to be served, however, theaverage rate grows larger. Finally, just after the peak, the PFS ratiobecomes smaller because the average rate has increased, which decreasesthe probability for serving the user. This single-sided behavior of PFS400 can miss nearly half of the best opportunities for serving the user,which means that nearly half the time the user might be served insuboptimal conditions.

On the other hand, peak scheduling 450 provides double-sided behaviorand is thereby able to serve the user in better conditions withoutmissing the large amount of opportunities missed by PFS 400. In thisway, the total system throughput is improved without compromising any ofthe users' throughputs. Instead, each user has a higher averagethroughput with peak scheduling 450 as compared to PFS 400. In addition,fairness performance is maintained with peak scheduling 450.

Although the present disclosure has been described with an exemplaryembodiment, various changes and modifications may be suggested to oneskilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompasssuch changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A method of providing peak scheduling in a wirelessnetwork, comprising: determining a priority for a plurality of users inthe network based, wherein the priority is determined by a finite lengththroughput window of a finite length; and scheduling the users based onthe priority.
 22. The method as set forth in claim 21, determining thepriority for each of the users based on the throughput window comprisingdetermining the priority for each of the users based on a schedulingratio, the scheduling ratio based on the throughput window.
 23. Themethod as set forth in claim 22, the scheduling ratio comprising aninstantaneous channel state versus a long-term channel history for eachof the users.
 24. The method as set forth in claim 23, the long-termchannel history comprising one of a total throughput and an average pastthroughput.
 25. The method as set forth in claim 22, the schedulingratio comprising the following equation:${\hat{k} = {\arg \; {\max\limits_{i}\frac{{DRC}_{i}(t)}{R_{i}\left( {t - {\Delta \; T}} \right)}}}},{where}$R_(i)(t) = R_(i)(t − Δ T) + δ_(ik̂)(t)DRC_(i)(t)Δ T.
 26. Themethod as set forth in claim 21, further comprising adjusting a balancebetween responsiveness and fairness in scheduling the users by modifyingthe length of throughput window.
 27. The method as set forth in claim21, further comprising: determining whether a change in conditions forthe network has surpassed a predetermined threshold; and when the changein conditions for the network has surpassed the predetermined threshold,adjusting a balance between responsiveness and fairness in schedulingthe users based on the change in conditions by modifying the length ofthe throughput window.
 28. A method of providing peak scheduling in awireless network, comprising: defining a finite length for a throughputwindow; determining a scheduling ratio for each of a plurality of usersin the network based on the throughput window; prioritizing the usersbased on the scheduling ratios; scheduling the users based on theprioritization of the users; determining whether a change in conditionsfor the network has surpassed a predetermined threshold; and when thechange in conditions for the network has surpassed the predeterminedthreshold, modifying the length of the throughput window.
 29. The methodas set forth in claim 28, the scheduling ratio comprising aninstantaneous channel state versus a long-term channel history for eachof the users.
 30. The method as set forth in claim 29, the long-termchannel history comprising one of a total throughput and an average pastthroughput.
 31. The method as set forth in claim 28, the schedulingratio comprising the following equation:${\hat{k} = {\arg \; {\max\limits_{i}\frac{{DRC}_{i}(t)}{R_{i}\left( {t - {\Delta \; T}} \right)}}}},{where}$R_(i)(t) = R_(i)(t − Δ T) + δ_(ik̂)(t)DRC_(i)(t)Δ T.
 32. Abase station capable of providing peak scheduling in a wireless network,comprising a packet scheduler operable to provide double-sidedscheduling for each of a plurality of users in the network by schedulingeach of the users both at a substantial portion of an ascending slope ofa channel fading curve for the user and at a substantial portion of adescending slope of the channel fading curve for the user.
 33. The basestation as set forth in claim 32, the packet scheduler comprising afinite impulse response (FIR) filter operable to determine a priorityfor each of the users based on a throughput window of a finite length,the packet scheduler further operable to provide scheduling for each ofthe users based on the priority for the user.
 34. The base station asset forth in claim 33, the FIR filter operable to determine the priorityfor each of the users based on the throughput window by determining thepriority for each of the users based on a scheduling ratio, thescheduling ratio based on the throughput window.
 35. The base station asset forth in claim 34, the scheduling ratio comprising an instantaneouschannel state versus a long-term channel history for each of the users.36. The base station as set forth in claim 35, the long-term channelhistory comprising one of a total throughput and an average pastthroughput.
 37. The base station as set forth in claim 34, thescheduling ratio comprising the following equation:${\hat{k} = {\arg \; {\max\limits_{i}\frac{{DRC}_{i}(t)}{R_{i}\left( {t - {\Delta \; T}} \right)}}}},{where}$R_(i)(t) = R_(i)(t − Δ T) + δ_(ik̂)(t)DRC_(i)(t)Δ T.
 38. Thebase station as set forth in claim 33, the packet scheduler furthercomprising a filter controller coupled to the FIR filter, the filtercontroller operable to define a length for the throughput window. 39.The base station as set forth in claim 38, the filter controller furtheroperable to adjust a balance between responsiveness and fairness inscheduling the users by modifying the length of the throughput window.40. The base station as set forth in claim 33, the packet schedulerfurther comprising a filter controller coupled to the FIR filter, thefilter controller operable to define a length for the throughput window,to determine whether a change in conditions for the network hassurpassed a predetermined threshold and, when the change in conditionsfor the network has surpassed the predetermined threshold, to modify thelength of the throughput window.